Kris Kristofferson - All Time Greatest Hits

Kris Kristofferson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Fontana
• ASIN: B00005O6HR
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,120 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Country > Outlaw Country

Track Listings

1. Me and Bobby McGee

2. Help Me Make It Through the Night

3. Casey's Last Ride

4. Darby's Castle

5. For the Good Times

6. Sunday Morning Coming Down

7. Jody and the Kid

8. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)

9. The Taker

10. Josie

11. Jesus Was a Capricorn

12. Nobody Wins

13. Why Me

14. I'd Rather Be Sorry

15. Stranger

16. How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around

17. Come Sundown

18. Once More With Feeling

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: KRISTOFFERSON,KRIS
Title: ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS
Street Release Date: 09/25/2001
Domestic
Genre: COUNTRY

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ageless songs, done with feeling, February 11, 2004

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Kris Kristofferson - All Time Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Kristofferson's delivery of his classic compositions sounds intensely personal yet universal at the same time. Most of these tracks come from his debut album: Me And Bobby McGee that was covered by Janis Joplin and Gordon Lightfoot amongst others, the romantic masterpieces Help Me Make It Through The Night and For The Good Times that have seen umpteen cover versions and the glorious Sunday Morning Coming Down that has also been interpret by a vast array of singers. The lugubrious songs Casey's Last Ride and Darby's Castle are less famous but equally moving.

There is also his later country-gospel classic Why Me that spent ages on the US charts and the beautiful ballad with Rita Coolidge, I'd Rather Be Sorry. My other favourites include Jesus Was A Capricorn and Loving Her Was Easier. Kristofferson's limited vocal range and talking style ensured that other artists made hits of his compositions, but his earthy tones have a charm of their own, while his tales of losers came long before Tom Waits. This is a great album if you're into authentic rebel country and singer/songwriter folk music. All Time Greatest Hits is a classic of ageless songs, done with feeling.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine introduction to Kristoffersons songwriting and singing, September 30, 2001

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kris Kristofferson - All Time Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

As such a consistently successful songwriter, and a sporadically successful performer, Kristofferson's "Greatest Hits" necessarily mixes his own few chart entries with his original versions of songs made famous by the talent of others (450 and counting!). But even as Ray Stevens, Roger Miller, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Ray Price, Sammi Smith, and Willie Nelson took his songs up the charts, it was Kristofferson's unique lyrical voice that provided the fuel, and that lyrical voice is never heard more clearly than in his own recordings.

Among the eighteen tracks are three of Kristofferson's own hits, "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," "Josie" and "Why Me" (his only #1 as performer). Also included are numerous roughly voiced originals of songs popularized by others. His LP debut take of "Me and Bobby McGee," shows off the weary, hobo flavor missing from Joplin's later hippies-on-the-road reading. Similarly, the cracking vocal and occasional flat note of "Help Me Make It Through the Night" reveals a desperation unmatched by the many subsequent covers.

A career as prosperous as Kristofferson's can't possibly be covered in a mere eighteen tracks. This is further complicated (on an album of the songwriter's performances) by songs he wrote but never released on his own. Early titles like "Viet Nam Blues" (Dave Dudley) and "Your Time's Comin'" (Faron Young) seem to be missing from Kristofferson's performance catalog, and though he recorded "Please Don't Tell Me How It Ends" (a hit for Ronnie Milsap), it doesn't appear here. The Grammy-winning duet with then-wife Rita Coolidge, "From the Bottle to the Bottom" is also missing, though the inclusion of "I'd Rather Be Sorry" amply shows off the power of their work together.

But discussing what's missing really misses the point. What's here are prime examples of Kristofferson's art, both as a singer and a songwriter. This disc is a great introduction to his work, and a good place to start exploring the rest of his (very much in print) catalog. What would be really nice is a companion volume collecting others' hit performances of these songs.

4-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding songwriter sings with conviction, September 26, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kris Kristofferson - All Time Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Kris was never blessed with a great singing voice but his voice is good enough on his own songs, which he sings with a conviction and honesty sometimes (but not always) lacking in cover versions by others. In that way, he may be compared with Bob Dylan, another outstanding songwriter with vocal limitations. As somebody who regards the human voice as the most important musical instrument of all, I cannot say that Kris is one of my favorite singers, but he has just enough to make me want to listen to his music every now and again. Perhaps it is the desperation with which he sings Help me make it through the night, or his attempt to find spiritual answers in Why me lord.

So on this compilation you will find his original recordings of songs that have become classics across several different genres of music, including pop, rock, country, soul, R+B and reggae. The most successful song of all is Help me make it through the night, which has charted for several different singers. Sammi Smith was first, selling two million copies in the USA, topping the country charts and reaching the top ten in the pop charts. John Holt, a fine reggae singer, took it high up the British charts. Another popular song, For the good times, was a country hit for Ray Price and a pop hit for Perry Como. Among the other singers who have been successful with his songs are Janis Joplin (Me and Bobby McGhee), Johnny Cash (Sunday morning coming down), Waylon Jennings (The taker) and Brenda Lee (Nobody wins), but this is by no means a complete list.

This, then, is a fine collection of music by an outstanding songwriter who, despite his vocal limitations, is worth an occasional listen.